Circus Maximus - Havoc review
| Band: | Circus Maximus |
| Album: | Havoc |
| Style: | Progressive metal |
| Release date: | March 18, 2016 |
| Guest review by: | andreosokin |
Disc I
01. The Weight
02. Highest Bitter
03. Havoc
04. Pages
05. Flames
06. Loved Ones
07. After The Fire
08. Remember
09. Chivalry
10. Loath [deluxe edition bonus]
11. I Am [live] [Japanese bonus]
Disc II [Deluxe Edition only - Live at Loud Park 2012]
01. Forging
02. Namaste
03. The One
04. Arrival Of Love
05. Abyss
06. Alive
07. Game Of Life
08. Last Goodbye
Tired of the same old prog cliches? Want to hear something more original, yet not too far from your comfort zone? Well, Circus Maximus has just the right remedy for you!
It really takes balls to change direction for a metal band. We all know that Opeth's latest albums divided their fans and the same is about to happen to Circus Maximus. Their newest effort, Havoc, is a perfect display of how can you play music for the masses and stay prog. Yes, it's not as heavy as Isolate or The 1st Chapter, but those albums already exist and the modern crowd doesn't want to listen to duplicates. The ratings for Havoc are lower than for any of their previous releases, but personally for me - it's their best album so far (not yet, kids, hold your trolling skills!).
Circus Maximus firstly teased the audience with "The Weight", "Havoc" and "Pages" as digital singles. They felt good, but not convincing. But when I heard "Remember", just a few days prior to the album's release, I fell in love with that track immediately. Then, the album came out and, after a couple of spins, every track started to make sense. "Loved Ones" became my second favorite just a few weeks after.
More kudos go to Christer-Andre Cederberg (whom we all know from his work with Anathema) for his mixing duties. Each and every instrument sounds clear, "tasty" and not over-compressed. It's needless to say anything about the performance - every CM musician is a professional and I believe they can play almost anything.
A friend of mine said that this album sounds like Coldplay or Muse. What can I say? There's nothing wrong with being diverse. Every artist has the right to do musical experiments, even if some of them sound like they've been heard before. This piece of work sounds original to me - it's a nice blend of melodic and alternative rock, entwined by prog metal.
Circus Maximus is doing a great job at forging their own, unique style. And thanks to them for the listening pleasure that I'm experiencing every time I play Havoc.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 9 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by andreosokin | 24.06.2016
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
Comments: 3
Visited by: 29 users
| Mountain King K i K o Posts: 1361  |
3 tracks that are not convincing and it is their best album? Of course I respect opinions, well my opinion that it does have that coldplay, Keane whatever feel to it. I'm listening to it but I don't like it much. Nine was pretty interesting and solid...
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| andreosokin SOUNDERY Posts: 227  |
Written by Mountain King on 13.08.2016 at 22:55 Either you didn't read the whole review or you didn't want to  What I meant is that the first taste of the 3 new tracks was not convincing, but my opinion changed after I gave the album several more spins. Nine was awesome, I agree!
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| Mountain King K i K o Posts: 1361 |
Written by andreosokin on 15.08.2016 at 12:53 Oh I might have misunderstood your statement. I just hope they don't continue in this direction, that's just me... Good review and anyone should still check this album out...
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